Woopi ready for another crack

IF the pressure of being the hunted rather than the hunter is affecting Woolgoolga then they showed no signs of it yesterday.

The Seahorses went on a 48-6 rampage yesterday as they rode roughshod over a Coffs Harbour team that severely lacked cohesion.

Such was the dominance of the opening round performance, Woolgoolga fans could've been mistaken for thinking that summer didn't even happen and footy season continued. The aggression in defence and discipline with the ball was still there for all to see.

But there is something different about this year's Seahorses model - they're fitter.

“We've had a good off-season and we've prepared well so we've ticked that box and we're fit,” Woopi coach Darren Leaney said after the win.

“We're enthusiastic and the boys are hungry because of what happened last year.”

The Seahorses came out of the blocks like a hungry team and led 16-nil after only 20 minutes with Sam McKechnie causing headaches up front and hooker Matt Grayson constantly poking his nose through from dummy half.

While Leaney was happy with the way his team started the season he knows that in 11 weeks time when these two sides meet again it will be different.

“Coffs played like a team with a lot of new recruits and we played like you'd expect a team to that has played together for the last 12 months, I think was the big difference,” he said. “We were just a little bit more polished and they were a bit more one-out.”

Comets' skipper Geoff Batten was extremely disappointed with the performance but says that yesterday's display wasn't a true indication of how good the team is.

“There was no cohesion whatsoever,” he said. “It's easy doing ball work but once you get under the pump and fatigue sets in it's hard and we weren't getting any room for our backs.”